The Business of Science Fiction: Two Insiders Discuss Writing and Publishing

Mike Resnick and Barry N. Malzberg

McFarland, 275 pages

Mike Resnick
Mike Resnick sold his first book in 1962
and went on to sell more than 200 novels, 300 short stories and 2,000 articles, almost all of them under
pseudonyms. He turned to SF with the sale of The Soul Eater, his first under his own name.
Since 1989, Mike has won Hugo Awards (for
Kirinyaga; The Manamouki; Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge; The 43 Antarean Dynasties; Travels With My Cats) and
a Nebula Award (for Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge).

Barry N. Malzberg
Barry N. Malzberg began working in SF as an agent for the Scott Meredith Literary Agency in New York in 1965.
He began publishing short fiction in 1967 and novels in 1970.
Pehaps he is best known for his books Beyond Apollo (1972) which won the first John W. Campbell Award,
Herovit's World (1973), Guernica Night (1975) and The Remaking of Sigmund Freud (1985).
His essay collection, The Engines of the Night: Science Fiction in the Eighties (1982), won a Locus Award.
He lives with his wife in Teaneck, New Jersey.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America publish a bi-monthly magazine, the SFWA Bulletin,
which contains a variety of articles on the business of writing, markets, news about the members, and so on. One
feature of the Bulletin, which has run since the 90s, is a series of dialogues between Mike Resnick
and Barry N. Malzberg on the business of writing. The Business of Science Fiction collects twenty-six
of these discussions for a wider audience.

Over the ten plus years they have been writing, they have covered a wide range of topics, from small presses
to self-promotion. In some cases, such as e-publishing, they have reconsidered their initial stance. Each essay
is chatty as the two authors go back and forth in an informal and uncoordinated manner, although they have been
clearly polished.

One interesting omission is that Resnick and Malzberg have not included the original publication data on the
articles they chose to include.
While some, such as "24. Change" can be dated by internal evidence, others can't be tied down as well. The
editors, therefore, are asking the readers to accept that the information in each of the articles is still
applicable (and, given that the reader has already accepted that the information was applicable based on
the identity of the authors, also the editors, that may not be too much of a problem). Fortunately, the
articles do stand up to the passage of time and Resnick and Malzberg can offer entertaining and cogent
data for the budding (or even
established) author.

Malzberg and Resnick are not afraid to tackle potentially controversial topics. With the modern battle cry that
money flows to the author, Malzberg discusses his time reading submissions in the fee department for Scott
Meredith (and notes that other authors have done so as well).
Malzberg does point out that context often abrogates the controversy around an issue and he and Resnick try
to provide context for all of their stated opinions, which allows the reader to judge the merits of each
argument in a way not possible had each of the authors merely stated their position.

The primary audience for The Business of Science Fiction is the author who is breaking into the field and
trying to find their way through the mine fields that can threaten their fledgling career, but the writing is
inviting and the topics varied that anyone whose interest in science fiction extends beyond simply reading
stories and novels will find Resnick and Malzberg's dialogues both informative and engaging.

Resnick and Malzberg continue to write their dialogues for the SFWA Bulletin and may eventually
be able to publish a second volume of these columns. Their experience in the field is invaluable, and their
friendship, even as the two men are clearly very different in their outlooks, comes through in their
writing, allowing them to offer opposing views while still saying things worthwhile about the publishing industry.

Steven H Silver is a seven-time Hugo Nominee for Best Fan Writer and the editor of the anthologies
Wondrous Beginnings, Magical Beginnings, and Horrible Beginnings.
He is the publisher of ISFiC Press. In addition to maintaining several
bibliographies and the Harry Turtledove website, Steven
is heavily involved in convention running and publishes
the fanzine Argentus.